Cashew nuts: healthy and delicious | Seeberger GmbH
Cashew Nuts
Product information
Whole plantations full of red and yellow fruits ripen in India’s tropical heat – though the colourful fruits are just a supporting act. The popular nut grows on the bottom of the so-called cashew apple. Once cracked open and gently dried, the “natural cashew nuts” have a firmly established place in the Seeberger range.
The extra large nuts are rich in saturated fatty acids and are a source of magnesium.
Ingredients
Cashew nuts
Nutrition Statement
Source of protein, rich in monounsaturated fatty acids, source of magnesium, source of phosphorous
This product is
- vegetarian
- vegan
- glutenfree*
- lactosefree*
- no added sugar**
- no added salt***
Nutrition facts
(per 100g)
- Calories (kj/kcal) 2.502 kj/603 kcal
- Fat 47 g
- of which saturated fatty acids 9,3 g
- Carbohydrate 22 g
- of which sugar ** 6,2 g
- Protein 21 g
- Salt *** 0,02 g
Country of origin
Nuts and nut kernels have a long tradition in India. Indians like to give or eat nuts themselves on many special occasions. Since there is a rich upper and middle class, the demand for high-quality nut kernels is immensely high. India and Vietnam are by far the largest cashew kernel producing countries. In Africa, on the other hand, most raw cashews are harvested, dried and then exported to the producing countries. In order to establish value-adding processes in Africa, cashew kernel factories are also increasingly being built there. The expertise and investors often come from India and Vietnam.
Product
The cashew tree, Anacardium occidentale, is a tree belonging to the sumac family. The cashew kernel grows on a fake fruit rich in vitamin C, the cashew apple. Its color various from a bright yellow to a dark red. The fruit has a tart taste and very quickly perishes. This makes the cashew apple unsuitable for the fresh fruit trade and consumption. Juice, jam and alcohol-containing wine-like drinks and vinegar are obtained from the fruit.
Cultivation / harvesting – Step 1
The cashew tree is a tropical tree that tolerates temperatures between 5 and 45 degrees Celsius. It bears fruit for the first time after 3 years, and the yield is 15–30 kg per year. On large plantations, the trees grow at a distance of 7.5 m to one another, meaning that 180–200 trees can be planted on one hectare. Male and female flowers can be found on one tree, which bloom pinkish red and yellowish white all year round are pollinated by small insects or by wind. After pollination, the seed is formed within 25–30 days. The shell reaches its final size within a short time, but is filled with the cashew kernel only later.
Cultivation / harvesting – Step 2
The cashews need to be dried immediately after harvesting. For this, the goods are poured onto concrete slabs and left in the sun, regularly turned over and taken to warehouses at night to protect them from moisture. Drying usually takes about 2 days. Steam roasting is the environmentally friendly method of cracking the cashews and then removing the shells. The nuts need to be sorted for this as processing time differs depending on the size. The steamer, a kind of pressure cooker, is used for about 15–20 minutes. 24 hours of cooling are now necessary to make the cores ready for the cracking process. The cashews can only be opened using manual labor or special machines. The nut kernels are then dried in a “borma” oven to a residual moisture of less than 5%.
Processing
Then comes the “conditioning” or “chilling” process, in which the dried kernels are exposed to a high-humidity environment so that they absorb moisture again. This releases the skin more easily from the kernel. The cashews are free of insect infestation after shelling and sorting. The goods need to be packed in bags immediately afterwards – preferably in an air-conditioned room. Vacuum packaging immediately prevents the occurrence of pest infestation and keeps the goods fresh.
Quality characteristic
Careful drying of the cashews immediately after harvesting is the basic prerequisite for good cashew quality without a foreign taste or smell. The cashews are vacuum packed under a protective atmosphere sorted according to size and quality. The size is given in pieces over pounds. Seeberger uses WW320 for mixtures (white wholes 320 pieces per pound) and WW240 as a mono product.
